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I have always wanted to promote strong, inspirational women who are breaking society’s ideas on females. Brittany Bergmeister is an experienced model in her early 20s, living a very busy life in New York City. She voices her thoughts on the environment and the life of a model with various social media outlets and even a separate business which clearly demonstrates she’d like to change the world in a positive way.  She began her business, ODM / ODC (Off Duty Model, On Duty Citizen) with her mother (who was also a model) to give girls a resource to find clothes that will be forever in style, and most importantly eco-friendly. She also has a blog documenting her life as a working model; offering support to new models, knowing all the challenges they  may face with their careers.

Adventure has never been far from Brittany’s life. She has lived across the globe ever since she was a young child. A Canadian by birth, from Toronto, she also lived in Tokyo, and now in New York City as a full fledged adult. She has worked and traveled to countless countries and has many stories to tell. I recently interviewed Brittany about her life as a model, her new business, any advice she can offer to young women, and her future plans.

 

As a model how have you overcome insecurities and learned to embrace your body?
-That’s something I struggle with every day. I’d love to be able to say I’m happy with my body 100% of the time but it’s exceptionally hard especially being in an industry when you’re often only considered for a job because of your body alone. I compete for these jobs with some of the most beautiful women, so of course it’s hard to not compare yourself. What I’ve learned is to be confident in the fact I’ve been a working model for 5+ years. I know there’s parts of my body I may never love but that’s what makes me different and I know I work hard for the body I have and it’s strong, toned, and healthy which I’m proud of.

Following that what would be your biggest advice to young girls to look past society’s norms about what is beautiful?
-What I’ve found difficult dealing with is being in an industry that advertises to young girls what they should look like, what they should buy, how they should style their hair etc. I want girls to know it’s so much more than how you look on the outside and what makes you truly beautiful doesn’t come from looks alone. It’s what you’re passionate about, what drives you, your values, your hobbies, and much, much more. A lot of young models always message me on Instagram asking how I stay so thin, what I eat etc. I want them to begin to value a healthy body and look up to me for other reasons like what environmental projects I’m working on or what good workouts I’m doing to stay strong. 

I think the fashion industry is shifting their ideas of what’s considered ‘beautiful’ too. There needs to be more inclusion and if we can get to a perfect place where there are just as many black models on the runway or plus and straight sized models on a shoot together, we can shift the perspective of what is beautiful and that is an amazing (and necessary) thing.  

 

Your business is about living a eco-friendly lifestyle, what inspired you to voice your thoughts on the environment?
It was told to me that fashion was one of the top ‘dirty’ industries out there, second after oil. This was right around the time that modeling started to feel slightly unfulfilling. I take “pretty” pictures for a living but as I mentioned before I wanted younger girls to look up to me for reasons beyond my looks. I wanted to be a good example for them to live by so I thought why not start learning about the environment and how I could help influence my fashion network to live more sustainably. In addition to making the fashion industry for green I hope to influence all my friends and followers to live more consciously as well. I have a big following so why not use my voice for something positive?

 Once you start to learn even the slightest about the environment and how wasteful we are as consumers, you begin to get a bit obsessed with what you can do and how you can live better. Living an eco-friendly lifestyle is relatively new to me but I hope to keep learning more and sharing what I learn along the way with my network.

 

 

Give us a deeper understanding on your business and how we can use it?
ODM/ODC (Off Duty Model, On Duty Citizen) is a sustainable website where people can go to live and look like an “off duty model”. The off-duty model look is what us models wear when we’re not working; simple stylish basics that never go out of style. Which is sustainable in its own way as nothing we wear generally goes out of style, so you can wear it all year ‘round and not have to continuously shop for new stuff that you’ll throw away after a few wears. I’ve chosen sustainable and ethical companies I like and chosen specific pieces that have the ODM look and then resell them on my site. The dream is to eventually have my own line of simple basics to sell, stay tuned! ☺

In addition to the shopping experience on my site I have a blog where I talk about all facets of my off-duty life; lifestyle pieces, sustainable talk, and health & wellness. I want people to know the best way to stay healthy when you travel, what my favorite sustainable tips are, fashion week info, etc. It’s basically all facets of my life rolled up into one blog, similar to yours☺

I also profile my model friends and what they’re up to with a questionnaire similar to this. I wanted it to be a platform they can have to share what they’re passionate about beyond modeling. A lot of them have really cool business and projects they’re working on as well so it’s nice to be able to share that with our community.

 

What tips can you give to someone starting a business or creating something online?
It’s a lot of work but it’s definitely rewarding turning an idea into a reality. I’m lucky to have my mom as my partner with ODM/ODC. I work with all of the creative stuff and she helps with the trademarking, LLC, etc. We’re a great team as she has a background in business finance and journalism so she helps fill in the blanks for all the stuff I haven’t learned yet. We complement each other very well.

Building this company has also been especially difficult since modeling is still my main job but I’m so passionate about creating ODM/ODC into a bigger better brand and learning more about the environment that it never feels like “work”. The things I’ve learned to be most helpful along the way are to never stop learning. I continuously go to networking events and get my name and business card out there. It’s often uncomfortable and you always feel awkward doing it but if you can’t sell your vision to a few random strangers why would anyone else believe in your company.

I try and surround myself with likeminded individuals so I can learn more about sustainability or what they’ve done to start their own businesses and use that as motivation and inspiration for ODM/ODC. A lot of my friends have gone to school or have degrees in marketing, environmental science, etc. so it never hurts to ask for a little help.

Also- as much as it may be difficult to pay someone to do something you may be able to figure out, I’ve learned it’s often better to trust the professionals and pay for something that they can do better and often times in half the amount of time. With my business cards and logo, I had an idea of what I wanted and thought I could save a couple hundred dollars by doing it myself. But the business cards and logo are the very first impression you often have to hook a new customer. It should be absolutely perfect and the investment of using a graphic designer for this was totally worth it!

 

How do you balance work, play, and taking care of yourself?
The schedule of a model is often quite sporadic, some weeks I’ll work every day and sometimes I won’t work for a month. Instead of freaking out as I used to I try and fill up my downtime with work, such as ODM/ODC, get in those extra workouts and see my friends and family.

 

As a model how do you stay healthy while still eating yummy delicious food?
It’s all about moderation. I feel my best when I work out, eat clean but sometimes it’s fun and necessary to let loose and have some drinks with friends and eat that slice (or two, or three) of pizza. I don’t do well when I try and cut out all the delicious foods completely, so I’ve learned over time for my sanity it’s best to listen to my body when it needs something and give in to that craving without feeling guilty. Of course that’s often a lot easier said than done but I have such a supportive boyfriend and family that value my lifestyle habits thankfully.They know it’s my job to look and feel good 100% of the time so they’re supportive of my healthier lifestyle but always down to share a pizza with me when I want it.  

 

As a woman using her voice using modern tools, what would you say about learning to be comfortable speaking up?
I think people respect someone with an opinion but who don’t preach to the point where you feel bad. Of course there will always be opposition but from my own experience I always love to learn from people on things I don’t know. I never try and change someone’s lifestyle habits but influence them so that they can make the choice on their own. When I started eating a bit more of a plant-based diet, I never tried to convert my boyfriend to a vegan as well. I know he needs more meat than I do personally but I share what I learn about it and if that’s something he wants to try with me than that’s great! Same thing goes for living more sustainably. I share what I learn with my friends because I know a lot of them value my opinion but I would never get mad at them if they disagreed with me.

 

 

Overall how do you think we can empower young women when they have something to important to say? 

I’m SO lucky as I’m in an industry that’s inclusive of a lot more women than men which I think is amazing. I can’t imagine being in an office setting where women are looked down upon or their voices aren’t heard like their male coworkers. It’s sad and it’s terrible it’s still a problem we’re dealing with in 2017. I think the best we can do is to stay strong, stay opinionated, demand our proper rights and collectively stick together to raise each other up. It’s not about putting down the male community but about learning how to work together and respect each other.

 

 

 

I wrote this post with the hope that we can all love ourselves for who we are. I want to say ‘thank you’ to Brittany for giving me her time with this interview and express how much fun it was. These few questions really gave me a different view on not only the modeling industry but also how I can make a difference in the world. I hope this gave you a new perspective as well, and empowered you if you are a woman or learn more about powerful women if you are a man.

 

Find Brittany here: Instagram

ODM/ODC

 

All photos are from Brittany Bergmeister’s or ODM/ODC Instagram